Henry Temple (1739-1802), was the eldest son of the Hon. Henry Temple (c1704-40), and succeeded his grandfather as 2nd Viscount Palmerston in 1757. Being an Irish peer, Palmerston was able to serve as MP for East Looe in 1762-68, Southampton in 1768-74, Hastings in 1774-84, Boroughbridge in 1784-90, Newport, Isle of Wight in 1790-96, and Winchester in 1796-1802. In 1767 he married Frances Poole (1733-69), daughter of Sir Francis Poole, 2nd Baronet. It was a happy marriage, but Frances died in 1769 in childbirth. In response to this Palmerston commissioned Robert Adam to make a monument to his wife for Romsey Abbey, near his principal seat at Broadlands, Hampshire. The monument was carved by Thomas Carter II (d1795), and erected at the west end of the nave, where it survives in situ.

Palmerston married again in 1783, Mary Mee (d1805), daughter of Benjamin Mee of Bath. Together Palmerston and Mary had five children, including Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784-1865), Prime Minister in 1855-58 and 1859-65. Palmerston's own funerary monument, which is also to his second wife Mary, was carved by John Flaxman RA (1755-1826) in 1804, and is located near to Adam's monument to Frances in Romsey Abbey.